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# thorough

«thorough» in Mova's school dictionary: **Done completely, carefully and with attention to every…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (thorough, more thorough, most thorough)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Done completely, carefully and with attention to every detail: a thorough check. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#m1)

2) (of a person) Careful to do everything well. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#m2)

3) (informal, UK) Complete, total: a thorough nuisance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In school a thorough answer covers every part of the question; a thorough search looks everywhere. In science, a thorough investigation repeats tests and checks results. In safety, a thorough check of a bike before riding catches problems. Adverb: thoroughly («wash your hands thoroughly»).

### examples

- The police made a thorough search of the house. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#x1)
- Give your bike a thorough check before a long ride. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#x2)
- She is very thorough with her homework. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#x3)
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#x4)
- The dentist gave my teeth a thorough clean. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#x5)
- He's a thorough nuisance! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#x6)
- They found none, however: but the vines, after so thorough a digging, produced a crop such as had never before been seen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/#x7)

### note

Spelling trap: thorough (THUR-uh) ≠ through (THROO) ≠ though (THOH) ≠ thought (THAWT) ≠ threw. Noun: thoroughness.

### In the corpora

- ["Enhanced pat-down" is a US official phrase for a thorough body search, for example at an airport.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/14/)
- [Seeing your coins pile up in a see-through jar helps keep you going; this push to keep going is called motivation.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/9-the-piggy-bank-and-a-jar-for-each-goal/12/)
- [Insects breathe through tiny holes along their bodies, not through lungs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/72-insects-and-spiders/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «thorough» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thorough/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.